


The Tudors, Season 2, Episode 9, The Act of Treason

by TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer



Category: The Tudors (TV)
Genre: Analysis, Episode Review, Episode: s02e09 The Act of Treason, Meta, Nonfiction, Season/Series 02, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:29:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25187209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer
Summary: Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode and the rest of the series. Complete.
Kudos: 3





	The Tudors, Season 2, Episode 9, The Act of Treason

Open to a foetus’ arm. Henry is informed the four-month-old foetus was male. It was also deformed, and the physician opines Anne’s miscarriage might be a blessing in disguise. Thankfully not showing the audience anything, Henry peeks underneath the towel before waving everyone away.

Elsewhere, Anne ambushes a different French ambassador than the one from last episode. She begs him to get the French king to accept Elizabeth’s engagement to the dauphin. Bringing up all she’s done for France, she kisses his hand before hurrying away.

Meanwhile, Edward is announced, and Cromwell says he’s been appointed as gentleman to the privy chamber. Continuing, Cromwell brings up Henry’s interest in Jane; he offers his private chambers to the Seymour clan so that a chaperoned Jane can spend time in private with Henry. Edward says something about his father repaying Cromwell, and Cromwell waves it off.

Later, Henry is either being checked for lice or having his hair combed. Cromwell explains what’s going on, and Henry decides to give Boleyn more stuff.

John and Edward lead Jane to meet Henry.

Interestingly, Brereton is one of the chaperones. He doesn’t fall to his knees to thank her for helping (albeit unintentionally) cause Anne’s miscarriage, and thus, make the assignment he was too incompetent to complete suddenly possible again.

I’m not sure Eustace using flashcards and making him write lines about what to do and not do doesn’t have something to do with this.

Henry gives Jane a miniature of himself, and Jane promises to treasure it for the rest of her life. She creepily states, should her grave be opened, it’ll be found again near her heart. During the first part of the sentence, I suspected she, too, was subjected to the Tudor-equivalent of flashcards, but the second half convinces me she’s speaking for herself.

In Anne’s chambers, the ladies are bustling around, and Norris bows to Anne before leaving. He does in such a way it causes a few raised eyebrows.

I don’t think Norris has romantic feelings for Anne, but I do think he does have a great deal of respect and affection towards her, and with her miscarriage, he has been showing up more than usual due to wanting to show his support and be there if she needs anything.

Madge glares at Anne before leaving.

Anne quietly wonders to her head lady about Norris’s lack of marriage to Madge, and the head lady suggests Norris comes more to see Anne than he does Madge. Then, whispering about the whole Jane situation, the head lady mentions Cromwell’s rooms.

Anne marches over to Jane. Jane tries to hide the locket, but Anne insists on seeing it. Instead of taking it off and handing it to her, Jane walks over to Anne so that Anne can grab it. When she sees Henry’s portrait, she yanks it off Jane’s neck.

Jane leaves, and tossing the locket onto the floor, Anne sees blood on her fingers. She leaves, and a faceless lady picks it up.

In Cromwell’s office, everyone but him stands when Anne enters. He’s reading something, but it’s ambiguous if he’s honestly unaware of her presence. One of the men gets his attention, and he hurriedly stands. Everyone else leaves, and Cromwell tells her about a new bill involving the Reformation. She angrily informs him the Reformation isn’t supposed to be about personal gain. Instead of being sold, religious houses should be converted to better uses.

Again, I agree, but this new turn in characterisation abruptly came into play after almost two seasons.

She brings up him giving his rooms to the Seymours. When he takes in a breath to answer, she grabs him by the shirt. He confirms it. She warns him he’s placed himself in great danger by turning against her.

Meanwhile, Madge secretly gives Jane the locket back.

In the next scene, Cromwell and his wife are eating when a servant announces Eustace has come. The food’s quickly taken away, and Mrs Cromwell hurriedly leaves. Apparently, the idea of introducing his wife and offering Eustace some food is objectionable in some way.

The two are friendly towards one another, and Eustace asks if Cromwell has fallen out with Anne. Confirming it, Cromwell hints about Henry’s interest in a new wife before saying Henry wants to see Eustace due to eagerness at an alliance with the emperor.

In Anne’s chambers, she’s having something of a party. Norris kisses her hand. Coming in, Lady R tearfully asks Anne to get George to stop being cruel to her. In a soothing voice, Anne flat-out says she doesn’t believe Lady R.

Insisting George is having an affair, Lady R pointedly looks at Mark. She continues, unlike how Henry treats Anne, George doesn’t treat her as a proper wife.

I feel so sorry for Lady R. She was forcibly married to a man she didn’t know, was raped by him, and has all these concrete ideas of how marriage is supposed to work, all of which George, sometimes with malicious intent and sometimes with uncaring indifference, defies.

A nerve touched, Anne loudly declares Henry doesn’t sexually satisfy her or any other woman.

Later, Anne vaguely listens as the emissary of Satan talks about giving up a French alliance. Abusively grabbing her wrapped fingers, he applies pressure, and ignoring her growing tears, he continues she has to try to get Eustace on her good side by openly speaking against the French.

Getting free, she agrees.

Growing even more abusive, he insists no one can be allowed to destroy them.

Later, Anne and Henry walk through court to go to mass, and Eustace doesn’t acknowledge her before disappearing.

Meanwhile, picking up the subtle changes around the castle, Wyatt uneasily tells Mark something big is happening but that he doesn’t know what.

Next, at a feast, Wyatt is upstairs. Looking down at Mark, he toasts him. Then, trying to put the pieces together, he starts scanning people.

Boleyn and George try to make nice with Eustace, and he just barely plays along.

Anne talks to several ambassadors, and she expresses anti-French sentiments. Right in front of the French ambassador she begged for help earlier, naturally.

Wyatt watches Anne laugh nervously.

Cromwell gleefully tells the Seymours that Anne is having a meeting with the ambassadors.

A man comes to extract Eustace from George and Boleyn’s company.

Talking to Eustace, Henry waves George and Boleyn away. Eustace suggests, in reference to Mary, maybe God wants England to have a female ruler. Loudly throwing a fit, Henry makes it clear he believes not being able to father a son is a reflection on his masculinity.

Then, Henry demands the emperor’s offer in writing, and Eustace says this is impossible. Henry asks if Eustace thinks he’s a child.

The majority of children wouldn’t behave as he is.

He insists, if the emperor wants an alliance, he must apologise and accept Queen Anne. Naturally, this makes George and Boleyn happy.

After giving Henry a moment or two to calm down, Charles Brandon goes over to him. He claims, as Henry’s oldest friend and loyalist subject, he needs to tell Henry some painful truths. As Henry watches Anne dancing near Mark, Charles Brandon says there are some rumours about Anne being involved with other men.

In a meeting Boleyn is part of, Henry talks about unsettling rumours. He appoints Rich and Cromwell to investigate.

Next, Madge is interrogated followed by the head lady-in-waiting.

Meanwhile, Henry orders Jane to leave court. Confused, she nevertheless agrees without complaint.

In the interrogation, Cromwell continually yells at Madge, and breaking down, she agrees men came to Anne’s chambers to flirt with Anne. He pries their names out of her, and she brings up the fact she saw George and Anne have what she interpreted as a non-familial moment of affection.

Next, Lady R is interrogated. Cromwell tries to restrain his incredulity when he asks her to confirm she believes her husband committed incest with Anne. She gives him a pointed look, and he smiles in thanks.

The next scene is of Mark being tortured. His scenes are intercut with Anne’s.

Elsewhere, Anne and her ladies dance. Coming in, George informs her of Mark’s arrest before quickly leaving.

Next, Mark is dragged to the rack.

Meanwhile, seeing Norris, Anne raises her voice as she notes his refusal to marry Madge. He politely answers marriage isn’t something a person should hurry into. Anne accuses him of supposing, if Henry dies, she’ll marry him. He protests, and his line about wishing his head were cut off if he ever had such a thought is painful. Her grip on reality completely lost, Anne lashes out.

Giving a curt head bow, he flees the chambers.

Ordering her head lady to have Elizabeth brought tomorrow, she asks for her to promise, if something should happen to Anne, the lady will take care of Elizabeth.

There’s another scene of Mark being tortured.

Outside with Henry, Boleyn tells George about an emergency council meeting neither of them were told about. Boleyn orders George to keep Henry in his sight at all times.

Riding over, Cromwell whispers to Henry that Mark confessed. Riding off sans the Boleyns, Henry calls for Norris to follow. Then, he accuses Norris of sleeping with Anne. Norris points out the ridiculousness of the charge, and Henry is further angered. Norris is arrested.

At the castle, Brereton is kneeling naked in front of a cross/crucifix when guards come to arrest him on the charge of high treason. Since this is the one time it might help him, he doesn’t blurt out a lie about how he didn’t try to assassinate Queen Anne.

Next, Boleyn is arrested.

Meanwhile, George leaves his chambers in a run. He stops when he sees Wyatt leaning against a wall. In answer to Wyatt’s question of where he’s going, he says he needs to see Henry. Wyatt creepily declares it too late. Guards close in, and one of the guards announces they’re both arrested for high treason and having carnal knowledge of the queen.

Wyatt probably realised what was happening when he found out about Mark’s arrest. For his part, George is almost comical as he tries to take in the absurdity of the incest charge.

Outside, carrying Elizabeth, Anne ambushes Henry. She begs him for another chance. He accuses her of lying and manipulation, and despite the toddler, his child, she’s carrying, he pushes past her.

Elsewhere, George is crying. Accusing him of incest, Cromwell declares they wanted Henry dead so that he and Anne could seize the throne with their incestuous love-child.

And I’d always thought, for all his faults, George was a good brother, but it turns out, he’s not. He tries to distance himself completely from Anne.

Next, likely already planning what sort of torture he’s going to have to use, Cromwell goes to see Brereton. He asks if Brereton had carnal knowledge of Anne. At first, Brereton laughs at the preposterousness of the question, but then, this awesome look of realisation crosses his face. “Yes,” he calmly answers. “Yes, I did.”

Probably wondering if Brereton and Lady R are a part of a ‘I Hate The Boleyns’ club and if he should try to figure out if there are other members, Cromwell stares at him.

Over to Boleyn, he doesn’t surprise me when he condemns his daughter and the lovers he knows she never had, including his son.

Meanwhile, Anne and her ladies are sewing. Charles Brandon and some men come in, and Charles Brandon reads out the accusation of adultery and treason. He says Brereton and Mark have confessed. Interestingly, Wyatt and George’s names aren’t among the men she’s accused of sleeping with. It’s announced she’s to be taken to the tower at once.

She looks calmly at Charles Brandon, and he looks away with subtle guilt on his face.

At the tower, she’s dressed as she was in her nightmare of Mary burning her. She calls out for the men who escorted her to ask Henry to be good to her. As she’s lead, she almost stumbles down the stairs, and the man leading her takes her hand to help her down. She repeatedly insists on her innocence.

She asks if she’s walking into a dungeon, and the man tells her no, an apartment has been made for her. Falling to her knees, she babbles. He helps her up, and she thanks him. She asks for the holy sacraments to be placed in her room, and he nods in assent.

Elsewhere, Cranmer goes to Cromwell to proclaim his belief in Anne’s innocence. Cromwell subtly motions for him to be quiet due to the other people in the room. Cranmer continues, naturally, however, Henry wouldn’t have proceeded as far as he has if she weren’t somewhat culpable.

Then, he expresses his love for Anne. Cromwell should have dragged him out of the room after he defended Henry’s rightness. Instead, they go to another part of the room, and Cranmer desperately asks if the Reformation isn’t in danger without Anne. Cromwell answers she’s become a liability, and sometimes, for the greater good, people must consort with the devil.

He continues Henry expects Cranmer to discover a reason the marriage is invalid. Tearfully, Cranmer accepts the paper, and smiling, Cromwell pats him on the shoulder. It’s an old gesture, but their friendship has just ended. Whether Cromwell mourns the fact is unknown.

In Henry’s chambers, stoking the fire, Henry asks Charles Brandon about the case. Everyone but Wyatt has been found guilty and will be executed tomorrow.

Henry rants and raves, and Charles Brandon is finally starting to grow up. Guilt is making its way inside him for all he’s done, all he’s planning to do, and all he knows he will do.

Unfortunately, sometimes, even when loved ones change for the worse and are unrecognisable from the person they once were, a person can’t stop loving them. Charles Brandon doesn’t fear death and he doesn’t fear for his wife and children, but he does fear losing Henry’s love.

So, wishing they could go back to when Henry was the better man and he was the troublemaking boy, he strokes Henry’s head as his friend cries in his lap.

Elsewhere, Wyatt is told by Cromwell that Anne was found guilty. The charges against Wyatt have been dropped. Cromwell refuses to listen when Wyatt insists he’s the only who actually had sex with Anne. He doesn’t even care enough to clarify it happened before Anne married Henry.

Outside, charms are sold, and inside, Anne moves furniture so that she can watch the executions out of the window.

George gives a calm speech, and after everything he’s done, I find it amusing how the crowd utterly ignores him in favouring of booing him.

Anne utterly and completely breaks down.

In another part of the tower, Boleyn is casually reading a book when hears his daughter’s sobs. He gives no reaction.

Norris is next.

Anne continues crying in the tower.

Blood is cleaned off the scaffold.

Wyatt’s VO reads a poem.

Brereton is next. Unlike the others, he undoes his own shirt so his neck is properly exposed before positioning himself.

Unable to walk, Mark is dragged out. Surprisingly gentle, a guard lowers his head onto the block.

In the tower, Anne has a moment of respite when she focuses on her breathing.

The episode ends with Wyatt writing in his cell.

Fin.


End file.
